The Future of Media: Key Trends in 2020 and Beyond

The last decade witnessed massive changes in the way consumers perceive media, how media houses run their businesses and how marketers advertise. From reading newspapers to scrolling news on apps, from watching movies on DVDs to viewing the latest flicks on Smart TVs, the media ecosystem has undergone a significant transformation. These changes are primarily due to digital growth, consumer behaviour and expectations, and global expansion.  The media industry has evolved at a rapid pace, and going forward, these trends will change the media landscape for good:

• Social media: We all know the importance of social media in today’s times. It is no longer just an avenue to stay connected with friends, but a vital source for news and information. Videos, news, advertisements or other content all have the potential of going viral fast. Social media also complements various news websites. People these days turn to social media more than traditional media for news that’s relevant to them via their preferred channels. They follow the people, products and organisations they care about.

• Artificial intelligence: Now a days, machines are taking over many jobs in the market. Creative ideas, ability to think out-of-the-box,  understanding the audience’s psychology and learning to interpret data that the computers give will make artificial intelligence useful in the media industry. AI makes the new content efficient for business ventures, publications and advertisers. AI can also be used to quickly create new advertisements and movie trailers, to streamline pre-production and post-production processes, and making all the steps involved more cohesive, and cost-effective.
• Premium content vs standard content: Media industry is entering a new cycle. Readers, these days value relevant, accurate and trusted information. If premium content implies a price, it will have quality information which involves facts, figures and investigative reporting. Monetizing information leads to top-notch reader and viewer experiences, an added value that customers look forward to, especially with innovative technologies linked to video bytes and audio. 

• Media education: Promoting media literacy among students is extremely important in the current times. With the influx of fake news, students must be taught to differentiate facts from fiction and identify reliable sources of information  They should also know how to apply critical thinking skills to media and use social media effectively to create informative and engaging content.
• Data analytics and content management: It is amazing the way data analytics has simplified our lives. Structured data is a key for measurement indicators, artificial intelligence, content syndication and analysis. International news agencies use data for infographics, robot writing, dynamic videos and much more. The more the information is indexed in databases, higher are the chances of it being  used by journalists or robots. Also, this increases the chances of improving the existing strategies or content.  

Also read: School of Media: Career Opportunities In The World Of Information And Communication